rudder

CEFRC1

/ˈɹʌdəː/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A flat part at the back of a boat or plane used for steering.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A control surface on the vertical stabilizer of a fixed-wing aircraft or an autogyro. On some craft, the entire vertical stabilizer comprises the rudder. The rudder is controlled by foot-operated control pedals.

Examples

  • A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder.

  • The rudder works to control the yaw of the plane.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Also pronounced

  • [ˈɹʌ̈dɚ] ~ [ˈɹʌ̈dɹ̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A riddle or sieve.

  2. An underwater vane used to steer a vessel. The rudder is controlled by means of a wheel, tiller or other apparatus (modern vessels can be controlled even with a joystick or an autopilot).

  3. The tail of an otter.

More examples

In context

  • For rhyme the rudder is of verses,/With which, like ships, they steer their courses.

  • He sniffed Tarka’s hair from rudder to neck, and his nose remained at the neck. It was a strange smell, and he sniffed carefully, not wanting to touch the fur with his nostrils.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The captain used the blank to steer the ship safely through the storm.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English rodder, rother, ruder, from Old English rōþor (“oar, rudder”), from Proto-West Germanic *rōþr, from Proto-Germanic *rōþrą (“oar, rudder”) (compare Dutch and West Frisian roer, German Ruder), from Proto-Germanic *rōaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to row”) + Proto-Germanic *-þrą, *-þraz, instrumental suffix. Akin to Old English rōwan (“to row”). More at rōwan, -þor.